Crypto Currency

Why bitcoin is booming

The price of bitcoin surged past $100,000 for the first time on Thursday, continuing a post-election run buoyed by the pro-crypto promise of the incoming Trump administration. On Election Day, bitcoin — one of the most popular decentralized digital assets available — was worth $69,374, according to the cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase. Within a month

The price of bitcoin surged past $100,000 for the first time on Thursday, continuing a post-election run buoyed by the pro-crypto promise of the incoming Trump administration.

On Election Day, bitcoin — one of the most popular decentralized digital assets available — was worth $69,374, according to the cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase. Within a month, it had spiked more than 44 percent. Other cryptocurrencies like ethereum and XRP also shot up during that period.

Cryptocurrencies’ sudden increase in value is a sign of investor optimism about President-elect Donald Trump’s policies and those of his picks to head several key regulatory agencies, some of whom have explicitly promised deregulation of the crypto industry.

“That bitcoin hit the $100,000 mark reflects the expectation of both political support and regulatory latitude under the incoming administration,” said Ramaa Vasudevan, an economics professor at Colorado State University who has been critical of crypto. “The nomination of crypto-enthusiasts for administrative posts is a clear signal of the embrace of bitcoin and crypto triggering the flood of money into these markets.”

Bitcoin’s rally is also a product of its increased legitimacy. Trump’s election may have sparked its rally, but the financial establishment’s embrace of the asset in recent months provided the tinder. While bitcoin was once a niche curiosity, it is now a mainstream digital currency that everyday Americans can now buy through reputable retail investment accounts. Even if bitcoin ultimately turns out to be a bubble, as many economists have argued it may, these investment vehicles have assured it some staying power.

The policies of the incoming Trump administration are fueling optimism

Trump has been an ardent cryptocurrency supporter throughout his most recent presidential campaign, and his choices to lead key government agencies related to its regulation reflect that enthusiasm.

Bitcoin hit its highest valuation ever following the nomination of Paul Atkins on Wednesday to head the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is in charge of regulating tradable securities like stocks. Atkins was previously an SEC commissioner for six years during former President George W. Bush’s administration.

Atkins is “not necessarily the sort of burn-it-all-down type of nominee that Trump has decided upon for other positions,” Molly White, a cryptocurrency researcher and critic, told Vox. “He’s fairly establishment; he has the SEC background, but he also was a very strong advocate for deregulation when he was in the SEC and certainly since then.” Atkins is also a co-chair of the Chamber of Digital Commerce’s Token Alliance, an industry lobbying group that advocates for lax regulation of cryptocurrencies.

Perianne Boring, the CEO of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, is rumored to be one of Trump’s top picks for another key position: head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which makes rules around the trading of futures and commodities. Currently, cryptocurrency is under the purview of the SEC, but the Trump administration is reportedly weighing regulating it as a commodity instead. If that ch

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Man accuses wife of using CCTV cameras to steal $172 million bitcoin from his hardware wallet

Finance Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Man accuses wife of using CCTV cameras to steal $172 million bitcoin from his hardware wallet The alleged theft of 2,323 bitcoin has triggered a High Court dispute testing how English property law applies to digital assets. By Olivier Acuna| Edited

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Man accuses wife of using CCTV cameras to steal $172 million bitcoin from his hardware wallet

The alleged theft of 2,323 bitcoin has triggered a High Court dispute testing how English property law applies to digital assets.

By Olivier Acuna|Edited by Nikhilesh De, Aoyon Ashraf
Mar 16, 2026, 9:57 p.m.
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(Credit: Mahosadha Ong-Unsplash/Modified by CoinDesk)
Bizarre case of spouses secretly recording each other, one to steal bitcoin, the other to prove the theft took place, lands in a U.K. court. (Credit: Mahosadha Ong-Unsplash/Modified by CoinDesk)

What to know:

  • A U.K. High Court judge has allowed a lawsuit over the alleged theft of 2,323 bitcoin, now worth about $172 million, to proceed to trial.
  • The husband, Ping Fai Yuen, claims his estranged wife secretly obtained his hardware wallet recovery phrase via home CCTV and transferred the bitcoin without his permission in 2023.
  • While the judge rejected his primary claim of conversion on the grounds that it traditionally applies only to physical property, the case will continue under alternative legal claims that could still enable recovery of the bitcoin.

A U.K. High Court judge allowed a lawsuit over the alleged theft of more than 2,323 bitcoin to move forward last week, in a case that highlights how the country’s legal system is still adapting traditional property law to cryptocurrency.

U.K. resident Ping Fai Yuen claimed in court filings in last week that his estranged wife, Fun Yung Li, used CCTV cameras in their home to secretly obtain the recovery phrase to his hardware wallet and transferred 2,323 bitcoin without his permission in August 2023, according to the docket in the High Court of England and Wales.

The bitcoin was worth just under $60 million at the time of the alleged theft 30 months ago, but is now worth roughly $172 million at the current price of just over $74,000.

The stolen crypto was stored in a Trezor cold wallet secured by a PIN. But anyone with the wallet’s 24-word recovery phrase could recreate the wallet and move the funds, the court noted. It was then transferred through several transactions and now sits across 71 blockchain addresses not held at exchanges. The funds have not moved since Dec. 21, 2023, according to the court.

Yuen said he later installed audio recording devices in the home after his daughter warned him Li was trying to take the bitcoin. After discovering the transfer, Yuen confronted Li and assaulted her. He later pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of common assault in 2024. Officers seized several hardware wallets and recovery seeds during a search of her home, though authorities later took no further action pending new evidence.

Earlier, according to the filings, the wife asked the court to throw out the case, arguing that because the husband’s main claim was conversion, which in England is a legal term traditionally used when someone takes physical property, it could not apply to digital assets, such as bitcoin.

The judged agreed with the wife, but ruled the case can still proceed under different legal claims that could allow the husband to recover the bitcoin if his allegations are proven. The case will now proceed to trial, the judge said.

United KingdomBitcoin NewsTheft

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Saylor’s strategy ramps up sales of preferred in latest Bitcoin purchase

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Michael Saylor’s Strategy Inc. bought nearly $1.6 billion worth of Bitcoin—the company’s largest purchase since January—leaning more heavily on a security promising investors an 11.5% annual payout backed by the same cryptocurrency.

The company, formerly known as MicroStrategy, bought 22,337 Bitcoin between March 9 and March 15, according to a regulatory filing Monday. Roughly $400 million of the purchase was funded through sales of common stock. The remaining $1.2 billion came from at-the-market sales of its “Stretch” perpetual preferred shares. The dividend-paying securities—similar to bonds that never mature—promise investors a steady yield funded ultimately by Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings.

Last week marked Strategy’s largest sale of Stretch since the July initial public offering of the issue. It was also the first time in weeks the firm relied mainly on Stretch to fund its purchases. During that period, Strategy has been marketing the securities as a way for investors and corporations to gain exposure to Bitcoin without taking on the cryptocurrency’s trademark volatility.    

Strategy has built a layered funding machine: It issues debt, preferred stock, and equity—all to buy Bitcoin. Each layer promises investors a different mix of risk and reward, but every layer depends on the same thing: the price of Bitcoin going up.  

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